1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to deburring tools and, in particular, to deburring tools having a replaceable cutting tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
Deburring tools are generally employed to remove burrs left on edges defined by passages cut or drilled through work-pieces, such as valve bodies and the like, made of metal or other material and to cut a chamfer on the edges. Examples of deburring tools known in the related art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,018 issued to Robinson et al. on Apr. 25, 1978 for a pin-type deburring tool having a replaceable cutting head; U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,463 issued to Robinson on Apr. 3, 1979 for an adjustable deburring tool having a replaceable and adjustable cutting head; U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,363 issued to Robinson on Oct. 25, 1994 for a lockable deburring tool having a replaceable and adjustable cutting head; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,554 issued to Robinson et al. on Mar. 26, 1996 for a second lockable deburring tool having a replaceable and adjustable cutting head.
Deburring tools of this type generally include an elongated cylindrical body, or arbor, formed with a recess for receiving a cutting tool. The recess extends a fixed distance into the arbor and typically has two closed ends. The recess defines a pair of opposed, flat surfaces disposed in spaced, parallel relationship with respect to one another. A unitary cutting tool is received in the recess of the arbor and includes a cutting head with an integral, elongated, flat, resilient blade extending therefrom. The cutting tool is removably mounted in the arbor such that a point is defined about which the blade can rotate.
More specifically, it is well known in the related art to mount the cutting tool in the arbor by a pair of axially spaced pins that extend transversely through the recess and a pair of spaced openings in the blade. One of the pins may be a roll pin that extends through one of the openings to define the pivot point. The other pin engages the other opening at the end of the blade opposite the cutting head and holds this end in non-pivotal relationship with respect to the arbor with the cutting head projecting from the recess for engaging a work-piece. The portion of the blade extending from the roll pin toward the cutting head is resiliently yieldable to permit the cutting head to move inwardly with respect to the recess during a deburring operation. The arbor and cutting tool may be removed and replaced by removing the pins. Deburring tools of this type are known in the related art as pin-type deburring tools having a fixed cutting head.
It is also well known in the related art to mount the cutting tool in the arbor by securing the end of the blade opposite the cutting head to the arbor in such a manner that not only is a portion of the blade yieldable to permit the cutting head to move inwardly with respect to the recess, as with a fixed cutting head, but the cutting head is also biased to an operable position extending from the recess. More particularly, the blade can be selectively pivotally adjusted with respect to the arbor to, in turn, adjust the unstressed position of the cutting head with respect to the recess. In this case, a pin is mounted in the arbor and extends transversely through the recess and the blade, and an adjustable screw is threadedly mounted in the arbor at a location spaced from the transverse pin with the longitudinal axis of the screw extending transversely to the arbor and perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the pin. The blade is connected with the screw in such a manner that rotation of the screw in the arbor pivotally adjusts the blade to adjust the unstressed position of the cutting head with respect to the recess. In other words, adjustment of the screw adjusts the pivot of the blade about the transverse pin, thereby adjusting the position of the cutting blade relative to the recess in the arbor prior to any deburring activity. The arbor and cutting tool may be removed and replaced by removing the pin and screw. Deburring tools of this type are known in the related art as adjustable deburring tools having an adjustable cutting head.
It is also well known in the related art to mount the cutting tool in the arbor and then to receive and mount the arbor in an assembly holder. In this case, the arbor includes a head portion disposed at one end of the arbor, and the recess extends from the head portion to the end of the arbor opposite the head portion. Furthermore, the cutting tool is mounted between the pair of opposed, flat surfaces defined by the recess and the arbor. The assembly holder has a central passage extending longitudinally through the assembly holder and adapted to receive the arbor. The central passage holds in position the pair of opposed, flat surfaces to frictionally clamp the cutting tool between the pair of opposed, flat surfaces. The assembly holder also has an aperture extending transversely to the central passage and adapted to receive a screw to fixedly mount the arbor and cutting tool within the assembly holder. In this way, the cutting tool can be mounted in the recess and held in place by the assembly holder. The assembly holder and, thus, the arbor and cutting tool may be removed and replaced by removing the screw. This type of deburring tool is not adjustable and may be used to deburr passages having relatively small diameters and in these cases has been referred to as a micro deburring tool.
It is well known in the related art also to mount the cutting tool in the arbor by another method using an adjustable screw and a pivot member. In this method, the screw is threadably mounted transversely in the arbor for fixedly engaging a terminal portion of the cutting tool. The pivot member extends transversely through the recess and the blade to define the pivot point about which the cutting tool can pivot and has a non-threaded, hemispherical portion with at least one flat face. The blade includes an open-arced, partially circumferential slot that, with the blade, defines a flat at one end of the partial circumference. The hemispherical portion is received in the slot and adapted to rotate therewithin until the flat face of the hemispherical portion comes into abutting engagement with the flat presented by the blade and slot to lock the blade within the arbor while permitting the blade to pivot about the pivot member. When it is time to change the cutting tool, the flat face is rotated out of engagement with the flat by rotation of the pivot member, the screw and pivot member are removed, and the blade is lifted from the arbor. The pivot member may be rotated by using an Allen wrench, a regular screwdriver, Phillips-head screwdriver, or any other type of conventional tool while the arbor remains mounted in a machine used to drive the deburring tool. This type of deburring tool is known in the related art as a lockable deburring tool and one also with an adjustable cutting head.
The cutting tools, in general, may be stamped from steel stock, with each being drilled with the openings or slot to accept the pins or pivot member, respectively, and then heat-treated to increase their hardness. The recess may be formed using a milling or grinding tool or a wire EDM as well. There are usually two to six blade changes before the arbor needs to be replaced.
While the deburring tools of the related art generally perform satisfactorily, they are not without their problems. For example, to replace worn-out cutting tools of some of the deburring tools of the related art, operators must remove them from the tool holders or rotating chucks of drive motors, drive the pins completely through the openings in the blades and out of the arbors, remove the blades from the arbors, replace the blades with new blades, and then drive the pins back into the arbors and through the openings in the new blades. This process is time-consuming and, therefore, expensive. In addition to this problem, each of the roll pins has a limited useful life of approximately one to three blade changes. Even with the deburring tools of the related art having cutting tools that can be replaced without the need to drive pins in and out of the arbors to remove the deburring tools from the machines, operators must still rotate the screws and pivot members with tools such that the worn-out cutting tools can slide out of the arbors and new cutting tools can slide into the arbors.
Thus, there is a need in the related art for a more convenient, cost-effective deburring tool that is made using high-quality tool steel. More specifically, there is a need in the related art for a deburring tool that makes changing a worn-out cutting tool thereof easier, faster, and tool-free and, thereby, reduces down-time in any deburring operation to increase the efficiency thereof.